Cameron County Prothonotary Office
The Cameron County Prothonotary is the civil filing office for the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania terminology. The county office page lists Mary Grace Olay as Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts, with Beth Carlson as Deputy Prothonotary. Cameron County combines the Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts functions in one local office, but the records are still best understood by office role. The Prothonotary side is where civil common pleas filings are entered and maintained.
Use the Cameron County Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts office page for current office details before visiting or mailing a request. The same courthouse office can point requesters to the criminal Clerk of Courts side when the matter is a prosecution, summary appeal, delinquency, or juvenile case instead of a civil case.
Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts
Prothonotary: Mary Grace Olay, ext. 328
Deputy: Beth Carlson, ext. 327
Cameron County Courthouse
20 East 5th Street
Emporium, PA 15834
814-486-3349 or 814-486-3355
Fax: 814-486-0464
PROTHO@CAMERONCOPA.GOV
Cameron County Civil Records
The Prothonotary keeps civil proceedings filed in Cameron County. Research for the county identifies civil complaints, mortgage foreclosure actions, state and federal tax liens, district magistrate judgments, protection-from-abuse matters, divorce, custody, and support actions as Prothonotary-side records. These are different from criminal prosecutions, even when the same local counter serves both clerk functions.
- Civil complaints, answers, praecipes, motions, orders, and judgments
- Mortgage foreclosure filings, tax liens, and district magistrate judgments
- Divorce, custody, support, and protection-from-abuse filings
- Certified and plain copies of civil common pleas records held by the office
- Counter guidance when a record belongs with the criminal Clerk of Courts instead
The online docket summary is not the same as the official paper or electronic case file. Pennsylvania's UJS Case Search and Court of Common Pleas docket sheets can show public civil docket data, but document images and certified copies generally require the Cameron County Prothonotary.
The manifest image from the federal district court source below helps distinguish local county filings from federal court records. Cameron County civil common pleas files are local Pennsylvania trial-court records, while federal matters use separate Middle District systems.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is a separate federal court access point, not the Cameron County Prothonotary.
For county civil case papers, use Cameron County's Prothonotary office rather than federal court websites unless the case was filed in federal court.
Request Cameron County Certified Copies
A certified copy is used when a court record must carry official proof from the office that holds it. Divorce decrees, civil judgments, lien satisfactions, and orders often need certification for filing, agency, or legal use. Cameron County research did not locate a county-hosted web request form for Prothonotary copies, so the practical route is to identify the case through UJS if possible and then contact the courthouse office for the current copy method and cost.
- Search the UJS common pleas docket by docket number, participant name, organization name, complaint number, or police incident number, then select Cameron County where available.
- Write down the docket number, party names, case type, filing date, and the exact document or decree needed.
- Call or mail the Cameron County Prothonotary to confirm whether the file is available, whether certification is possible, and what fee schedule applies.
- Submit the request with the case details, copy type, mailing address, and payment method accepted by the office.
- Check the returned copy for the correct docket number and certification before using it for another filing or agency request.
Note: If the record is a criminal case, use the Clerk of Courts function rather than the Prothonotary civil function.
Cameron County Request Details
No county-hosted civil court records request web form was confirmed in the research. A written request should still be specific enough for staff to identify the file without guessing. Exact docket numbers work best. If the docket number is unknown, names, case type, and approximate filing date help narrow the search.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Recommended | Use the exact common pleas docket number from UJS when known. |
| Party names | Yes | List plaintiff and defendant, petitioner and respondent, or spouses in a divorce case. |
| Record type | Yes | State whether the request is for a decree, judgment, order, lien, docket sheet, or other civil document. |
| Copy type | Yes | Specify plain copy or certified copy so the office can apply the right process. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Include mailing address, phone, and email for fee or availability questions. |
| Payment method | Office confirmed | Confirm accepted payment before mailing because current fee details were linked, not extracted. |
Cameron County Prothonotary Fees
The county office page links separate Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts fee schedules for 2025 and 2026. Because the research did not safely extract every current amount from the linked schedules, the most accurate use is to confirm the posted schedule or call the office before mailing payment. The statewide UJS docket search is free, but official document copies are separate from public docket viewing.
| Item | Source / status |
|---|---|
| UJS public docket search | Free public web search |
| Plain civil copies | Use the current Cameron County Prothonotary fee schedule |
| Certified civil copies | Confirm with the Prothonotary before payment |
| Civil filing fees | County page links current fee schedules |
| Older file retrieval | Ask the office whether any extra timing or cost applies |
The public federal filing systems shown in the next manifest images are not substitutes for Cameron County's local Prothonotary fees. They are useful only when a record is federal rather than county common pleas.
Middle District of Pennsylvania CM/ECF is mainly for registered federal filers.
Cameron County Prothonotary copy requests remain local when the docket belongs to the Court of Common Pleas.
Cameron County Civil Forms
The county page links forms and fee schedules from the Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts office. Civil users should distinguish court-created forms from local filing requirements and should confirm whether a form belongs with the Prothonotary, the Clerk of Courts, the Register of Wills, or the Magisterial District Court.
- Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts page - local office links, fees, and forms
- Pennsylvania court public-records policies - court access rules for judiciary records
- Pennsylvania Office of Open Records - non-court agency records under the Right-to-Know Law
Online Search and Mail Requests
Cameron County does not appear to publish a separate county-built civil case search portal. The access pattern is statewide search first, then local office request. Search UJS for docket information, use the Cameron County courthouse office for civil document copies, and use the Right-to-Know Law path only for non-court county agency records. Court case files are governed primarily by judiciary policies, not ordinary agency open-records rules.
PACER appears in the manifest because federal records may matter to some researchers, but PACER is not a Cameron County Prothonotary system.
For a Cameron County civil case, the certified record comes from the Prothonotary at the courthouse, not from a federal case search platform.
Restricted records require extra care. Juvenile records, sealed files, adoption matters, protected identifiers, and some family or protection-from-abuse materials may be withheld or redacted. A public docket entry does not mean every document in the file is open to every requester.